Echoes in the Soul
by silrayn silverwolf
Summary: [Saiyuki Crossover][retitled] An ancient evil is about to rise again, but those warriors who must fight it must first deal with certain issues. Here there be dragons... CrawfordxAya, YoujixAsuka and...and see inside...
1. Prologue

  
  


**Title: **Echoes in the Soul 

**Author:** silrayn silverwolf 

**Disclaimers: **Gensoumaden Saiyuki and Weiß Kreuz are not mine. 

**Spoilers:** The animes, some of the manga like the fact that certain incestuous relationships among certain siblings. 

**Teaser: **The revival of an old evil is at hand. The present incarnations of the warriors of light are called to meet the challenge… 

**Echoes in the Soul**   
GENSOUMADEN SAIYUKI-WEIß KREUZ CROSSOVER

**Prologue**

A woman flipped a loose lock of hair out eyes as she surveyed the smoldering ruin that was once a house. She seemed unfazed by the havoc that had the gathering crowd murmuring. Nor did she brush away the swirling ashes and smoke that could adversely affect her white suit. 

"So it is beginning." She said as she stood unnoticed by a crowd of onlookers, medics and police just come to the scene. Beside her was a man with a gray ponytail and a gray monkey suit. 

"Are you going to give the scroll to him now, Kanzeon-sama? You're going to lose your chance." Her companion asked. He made a gesture at a grieving young man. Medics were escorting the kid, a red haired beauty of a youngster whose purple eyes were leaking tears, into an ambulance where they had already put his sister. 

"No, Jiroshin, I intend to give the scroll to my former nephew." 

"But--but--Kanzeon-sama! He's--he's on--close--to the other side this time around!" 

"The more to hide it. Hide it in plain sight." 

"Clever." 

"Jiroshin…" 

"What, Kanzeon-sama?" 

"Stop your bootlicking." 

"Hai." 

Both Kanzeon and Jiroshin faded into nothingness leaving the ashes to swirl into the space where they've been standing. 

*** 

Crawford looked up from his paperwork to see the door swing open. 

"Crawford, I'm sorry but she barged in here like she owned the place." Nagi called out from the door as a woman wearing a white mini-skirt and plunging neckline that would proudly grace the body of a Kritiker female agent. She came into the office like a ship breaking waves in an ocean. 

"So Konzen, how're you today?" The woman said, putting a hand on his shoulder without so much as a by your leave. 

"My name is Crawford. I don't believe we've met before." Crawford said with enough frost that would have had the woman freezing in her tracks. He slapped her hand away without a thought. 

"You still don't remember, don't you?" 

"I don't know what you're talking about, you old woman." Somehow, it seemed so natural to call the woman before him like that, though she didn't look much older than Crawford himself did. 

"Oh, somewhere deep inside you do remember or you wouldn't have called me that. Here catch!" The woman smiled her dark eyes tilting more arrogantly than before. She tossed something towards Crawford. 

Crawford instinctively caught the bundle that hurtled towards him. It proved to be small gun and… 

_What the--a scroll--what am I suppose to do with these things?_

"What is this?" 

"Something you might need some time. You will be meeting them soon. You're bound by the threads of destiny as much as they are. Please make the right decision when you do." 

"Who the fuck are you talking about!" 

"You'll know them when you see them. And Konzen, it's good to see you again." The woman said, gracefully walking out of his office as swiftly as she had barged in. 

_What was that all about…?_

*** 

Crawford dismissed the crazy happening as another one of those things that Schwartz had to deal with, he tried to get back to his interrupted work but couldn't quite get the peculiar visit out of his head. 

_Where could I have seen her before? She seems to be familiar._

He turned over the gun and the scroll in his hand repeatedly as if trying to place them in his memory. He was about to open the scroll to look at its contents when his office door opened to admit another member of Schwartz. He quickly got the scroll into one of his drawers and locked it in, barely thinking as he did so. 

_It could be important later…_

He didn't know why but it nagged at his mind. He couldn't let go of the gun however. 

"Ah, you won't believe this, Braddy. Me and Farfie just bumped into this curvy babe outside and she just vanished into thin air!" Schuldig said as he came into the office to make reports for the rash of elimination missions. 

Crawford could let that one pass. He didn't know what to think much less say about their strange visitor. Schuldig sat in front of the spare computer to type his report. 

"So how did your missions go?" Crawford asked, more to allow the strangeness to pass than out of the need to know. He and Schuldig had been working together for so long that he knew he could count on the German to fulfill missions without a hitch. 

"Everything went fine. There's one problem though. One of the targets' children got away." Schuldig replied looking over his shoulder at Crawford, his eyes were clearly still curiously looking at Crawford. 

"I'll cover for you then." Crawford said, very conscious that he was still holding the small gun. 

"Thanks, what's that?" 

"New gun." His lips automatically formed the lie. He took out his gun from the shoulder sheath and put the small gun into it. His mind yammering at him as he did so… 

_You don't even know if that can fire…or what bullets it uses…_

It just felt right somehow. Now if he could get the scroll into one of his secret pockets… 

_What…am I thinking…? _

"Aa." Schuldig said, and he continued typing his report. The telepath seemed to have accepted the lie readily enough or at least didn't want to challenge Crawford over such a little thing. A good thing since Crawford couldn't find an explanation for it himself. 

**~TBC~**

**Author's Notes:**   
**-** Sorry about the Kritiker female agent quip but it's an accurate discription. ^^;;; 

**Progress Report:**   
Raven's Pendant - is growing but in random order so the chapter 10 and 11 will probably update close to each other but not right now since both are getting parts but neither is getting finished...I'd say probably only ^^;; 

  



	2. A flicker of memory

**Echoes in the Soul**   
WEIß KREUZ - SAIYUKI FANFICTION

****

**Part 1 - A flicker of memory******

Gyokument Koushu's long blue hair was tamed into a knot that resolved to a long tail of hair. She liked it better when it was combed up to a couple of lovelocks but then she needed to keep up to the times like everyone else. She wore flowing blue chiffon in a peasant blouse and skirt combination that approximated her old robe. 

_Ah, the good old days...but then, the now is more conducive for my plans. No one in this day and age believes in demons anymore..._

When the Sanzo-ikkou had come to stop Gyuma Ou's revival, she had spared by dint of luck. She was in one of the hidden laboratories when that accursed monk came up like a natural disaster and depopulated the palace. Her entire retinue had been reduced to only a couple of bodyguards. Dr. Huang and Nii Jieni had been killed along with the rest. It took her a while to scrounge up Nii's research and much longer to comprehend it. 

_Things have changed...not necessarily for the worse..._

"You will help us revive Masafumi-sama, if we do this thing for you?" The soft contralto on the other side of the line tried not to sound to eager but Gyokumen Koushu knew that she had the speaker the moment she heard the voice. She had known this particular person before, a long time ago, to be very reliable. 

_Death and rebirth hadn't changed her much. Earnest and loyal to a fault... Who would imagine that it would come to this?_

She smiled and paused to enjoy the other's discomfort. There was no point in hurrying, she had this fish well and truly hooked. 

_Might as well enjoy it..._

"Aa." She said, timing it a shade before the anxiety that from the phone turned to panic and suspicion. 

"Consider it done, then." The line went dead with a click. 

Gyokumen Koushu laughed and laughed. 

_Who would have thought that Huang would end up obsessed with Nii? She had been so professionally jealous of my attentions to Nii. Fate definitely has a strange sense of humor... Time to go back into my role... The things I do for my love... _[1] 

Her form blurred into that of an old woman in frumpy clothes, though the cat in cream expression on her face didn't change. 

_Soon, soon, this charade would become unnecessary..._

Her cellular phone rang and she picked it up with no hesitation. 

"Emma, is all in accordance with our plan?" Said a baritone tinged with the unevenness of age. 

_Old fool…_

"Yes, it is. Schrient caved in quickly when I suggested that we would help them with their little problem." 

"Are you sure of that? That they wouldn't use the powers of the girl to further their own agenda once they have her. " It was a tenor as age worn as the tenor. 

_Ah, Hengist Sinclair, the worrier…and all that is there to this expensive conference call… What a waste!_

She didn't let the annoyance she felt at the question filter into her voice. 

_Imbeciles, I have more at stake here than both of you…_

"Be assured that they will not. I have seen to it that they don't know the true value of what they will hold." With that, the other two so-called-Elders of Estet had to be content. 

_Hah, Estet is mine and have always been from the start… And soon I don't have to be burdened with the doddering humans… Let them think that they were getting their youth back when we summon the Ancestor… I will be rid of them soon enough. They'll be the first to be eaten… My love, Gyuma Ou, soon…soon…we will be reunited once more…_

***

Crawford sat on the dingy barstool gingerly. The bar was full of cheap plastic bucket seats and lit by semi-colored lights that flickered irregularly. Most of the clientele were wearing faux leather and shabby vinyl, a parody of his own leather ensemble. Some of the more unsavory natives were looking him over with a predatory gleam in their eyes, only to be cowed by his self-assured air that practically screamed "Beware, higher predator!" It wasn't really his sort of place. Schwartz had become so much more prosperous that he didn't have to go to a place like this for work reasons. Estet and Takatori's cronies used prestigious restaurants to meet in. 

_This had better be worth it…_

The precog's eyes shifted from face to face absently looking for the reason of his presence. After some minutes, he concluded that the man was not yet inside. He settled down to order a whiskey. The bartender took his order and came back with a dubious looking glass of amber liquid. He sipped at the drink then put it back down as a redhead drifted into the tacky semi-darkness from the cold Tokyo night. 

_Ah, there he is… _

Crawford toyed with his drink, dawdling a bit, though he knew somewhere at the back of his mind that in his mind that this meeting was inevitable. Here sitting in the cigarette-fogged darkness, still, didn't know why he was doing this…but… 

_Might as well…_

He sighed. Then he stood up, his glass in hand, and moved off to meet his quarry. 

"Schwartz!" Abyssinian hissed at him. He was wearing his mission boots and pants with a shirt of deepest purple, nearly black. He wore a bulky leather jacket over it all like Crawford and the precog didn't doubt that the redhead was wearing it for the same reason. 

_He's also carrying a gun under there… _

"Fujimiya…" Crawford inclined his head. They were at the edge of the dance floor where the washed out lights were close to being white. He could clearly see the stiffened expression on the other's face. 

"Does Schwartz have any involvement in my sister's kidnapping?" 

"No." It was said quickly, maybe too quickly, for Abyssinian's eyes narrowed. 

"You do know something." 

_Damned I was hoping he didn't have to pick up on it…_

Crawford always had trouble in deceiving Abyssinian. There was something in those purple depths that demanded truth from him. Besides, the redhead had an uncanny sense for strategy despite his temper. It made him a good field leader for Weiß and an opponent to watch out for when he wasn't blinded by vengeance. 

_Come to think of it, he isn't that bad an opponent even when he was…_

"Tell. Me." Before he could answer, Crawford found himself thrown to the wall and staring into two hard amethysts. 

"Why should I? Besides, this really isn't wise of you…" Crawford said, coolly. He knew very well that the man was in the bar without the auspices of Kritiker. Fujimiya was working alone and couldn't afford any sort of drastic action. 

"Because I--I--" 

_I guess he's too intelligent to threaten me, when he knows it's likely that I know he can't really follow through… _

Inexplicably, Crawford felt a stirring of something. Ghost hands around his neck, not too comfortable but not too tight either. Lithe body hovered above him. Then the memory faded and he found himself back in the bar with Abyssinian pressed against him and other's warmth elicited more than a passing interest in some rather embarrassing parts of his body. 

_Shit! What a time to get horny...though to be honest I've always felt something like this whenever he's around..._

Crawford remembered clearly his reaction upon meeting the redheaded kitten in the Human Chess game... 

*** 

"Takatori, shine!" The battle cry rang through his consciousness and echoed by his thought. 

_Now! Here he comes..._

Crawford moved to counter the blow that he knew was to come for his employer. 

Like an avenging angel, an orange-clad blur swooped in with sword upraised. He met the sword with a feint of his own. He caught it with his hands. He met the glittering purple eyes and felt the hot breath of the other's rage on his face. 

_Strange, they should be green..._

The disjointed thought came and gone so fast that he barely registered it. He was amazed at how slight the assassin was and at how delicate the man looked. 

_He could be a girl...with those features..._

However, the wiry strength that wielded the sword and the muscles that strained against Crawford told him otherwise. 

_Definitely a guy...and definitely...attractive..._

It wasn't the first time he'd lusted after another man so it wasn't much of a surprise him when his body reacted to the closeness of such a pretty guy. The rush of déjà vu, however, did startle him. 

_Strange, there seems to be something familiar about him... This striving is not all that unusual come to think of it…_

Crawford could not place the man but he felt that he had met him before somewhere. 

_Somewhere...but where..._

It was rather disconcerting that he couldn't place the man. 

_Surely I would remember someone as exquisite as this…_

He would've dwelt on it a little more but Fujimiya's next move was to withdraw his blade and agilely dodge him so that the volatile redhead could get at Takatori. He'd been hard-put to keep his client from being split in half, hustling the annoying geezer away. 

*** 

It wasn't until later when Crawford had time to think that he wondered at his thoughts of the encounter. 

_Green eyes…? Why would think about it? His purple eyes are lovely enough as it is…they don't need improvement…_

Even with the weirdness, or maybe because of it, Crawford had lusted after Abyssinian. He had taken every opportunity to grope the redhead when they fought. He assigned himself that duty whenever they encountered the White Hunters, something that amused Schuldig to no end. It was inevitable when fighting with only with his fists anyway. He had a vision that Weiß would be useful one day and didn't permit his team to damage the other. There was something Weiß that called out to him, compelling as a siren song. He dismissed the sudden flight of fancy. 

_What am I thinking, they're just a bunch of amateurs… No, we'll need them later. We can risk killing even one of them. So, no guns…and how else can I fight if I'm not using my gun…_

Before he could think more on the attraction, Fujimiya interrupted his thoughts again. 

"Tell. Me." It was said through gritted teeth but the purple eyes were glowing softly with the desperate plea the man would not voice. The combination was irresistible. Suddenly, Crawford found his lips warm against the softness of the Weiß redhead's, and realized… 

_I kissed him?_

Before Crawford could do anything else, Abyssinian broke the lip-lock. He tried to think through the sudden disappointment. He had barely tasted the heady sweetness of the other's mouth, reminiscent of sweet brandy. 

"Would you deal for the information?" The glow in those purple orbs turned a bit less pleading and a shade more calculating. 

"Huh?" Crawford was startled by the question. 

_Is he saying what I think he's saying?_

"Let's discuss it in a better place, then?" Fujimiya put his hand onto Crawford's arm and started to drag him to the entrance and he lost all thought in amazement. 

*** 

The determination in that tone translated itself into action as Crawford found himself being dragged out of the club and checked into the sleazy "love hotel" before he could protest. 

_Not that I'm going to protest…when I want to have my wicked way with him anyway…but this is so sudden…_

"So?" The tone was still demanding but was said much softer than anything he had ever heard from Abyssinian before. 

Crawford found himself avoiding those purple orbs by shifting his gaze at his surroundings, at the tawdry cream colored walls, the TV and VHS on the corner… Finally, it fell on the blue-spread of the bed where the Weiß redhead sat. 

_Oh my…_

It hit him then at last. 

_I'm all alone with Fujimiya Aya in a room with a bed…_

"Well?" Fujimiya sat with unconscious sensuality, head thrown back to stare at Crawford who loomed above him. 

_At least, I hope it's unconscious. I'd kill anyone who'd seen him like this…or worse had him practice that… Did Kudoh or Hidaka ever pull the moves on him? How could his teammates ever ignore his beauty?_

"Well, what? I can hardly trade any information about your sister. You'll oppose us, after all." Crawford said, trying to get control of the situation though the warmth under his belly was rising to a fever pitch and that his breath was becoming uneven. 

"I'll do almost anything for it." Aya said, pouncing on Crawford to pin him onto the bed. The familiar feeling was there again, much stronger this time, that he had the other man in a similar position before. 

_Which is ridiculous, he'd never had the chance to do this to me…_

The feeling didn't go away though and grew stronger. He didn't want to budge from his position from underneath the slender body. Warmth traveled the almost non-existent space in between their bodies through their clothes making him tingle all over with reaction. 

Then, Aya's lips were ghosting on his own, Aya's tongue entwining with his. The sweet taste of the other's mouth was back, this time invading his mouth and binding his body in place. It was becoming hard to think. 

_No! At least, not like this..._

Inexplicably, Crawford was repulsed by the casualness of the situation. 

_I don't want him to come to me like this... Not for a deal... It should be more...than this..._

He couldn't move though, couldn't fight his traitorous body that was completely submitting to the touch that was fast becoming the center of his world. 

_So good...can't think...maybe I shouldn't have kept celibate all these years...it's making it very hard to resist._

Not that it would have helped. This was the first time he'd have such an overwhelming reaction towards a person. He usually had no problems refusing anyone. Even Schuldig had given up trying to influence him in that manner, stating that he must have ice water in his veins. 

"So...?" 

The question broke through the sex haze in his mind. 

"No. No, I not like this." 

Astounded silence greeted Crawford. 

"I suppose you would leave if I said no." He continued, pushing his luck since he already knew the answer. 

"Of course." 

The coldness in the tone really got to Crawford. Anger burned away the last of the desire tying him to the bed. He sat up on the bed and pushed Aya away from him. 

"Of course, but that's all you have to bargain with. Is that it? You're willing to get into bed with your enemy just for your sister? Great thinking there, Fujimiya! What do you think of me, a fool? And while we're at it…what do you think of yourself?" Crawford stood up, turning to go. He did not even try to fix his suit. 

_I must leave…at once…_

He wasn't very sure that his resolve could stand up to the strain if he remained further with the tantalizing redhead. He was already by the door when he heard the plaintive voice. 

"She's all I have left." 

The despair in the deep voice almost changed Crawford's mind. He turned to look at the man who slumped on the bed. 

"You'll find her again someday." The reassurance slipped out before he could think. 

"Is that a prediction?" Abyssinian pounced on the sentence with the enthusiasm of a drowning man. He stood up and closed the gap between them. He was definitely pleading this time. 

"Maybe." Crawford smirked. He finally found himself in the position of control. 

"Bastard." 

"That makes us two of a kind, doesn't it?" Crawford asked, smirk even getting larger before his brain registered what he just said and how it could have been taken. 

_Fuck! He really must be getting to me…_

Aya smirked back at Crawford. 

_Okay, that's it. I better leave here before I make an ass of myself…or, at least, more of an ass… I have a feeling I've already done my quota of foolish things for the year…_

Crawford got out of the room with that smirk lingering on his mind. 

_At least, he doesn't look too depressed anymore…_

The thought had a happy feel to it that the precog decided to ignore. He didn't even noticed that he'd thought of his enemy by the redhead's assumed name. 

*** 

Aya sighed as he sat on the bed. It had been so close... 

_She had been so close… He'd almost had her…had known… Ah well…_

Crawford wouldn't have been Crawford, if he'd allowed his opponent any sort of advantage. Aya had known about the precog's weakness since the second time they'd fought. The man couldn't quite keep his hands to himself. His touches tended to linger, rather than swiftly inflicting damage. He wasn't as much restrained with the other Weiß members though he was more lenient with the "White Hunters" than with other opponents. Aya often wondered at this seeming leniency. 

_Is it just part of his bigger plan?_

Aya knew that the precog had some hidden agenda, some scheme that involved Weiß. Crawford wouldn't spare them otherwise. He knew good planning when he saw it. The missions involving Schwartz had the feel of something arranged, a deadly dance where the dancers were only allowed to inflict some damage but not to kill. Like the time with Ouka… 

*** 

"Omi wouldn't betray the team." Ken protested. 

"I know that Kenken, but he isn't here, is he?" Youji drawled lazily. He lounged around the couch he had turned to face the computer with apparent ease but his jaw was tight with the unspoken tension. 

The three Weiß members were currently huddled over the computer. The screen blinked innocently at them was the message that caused this furor. 

To: Weiss@Kritiker.com   
From: Nausicaa@mysterykitty.com   
  
Go to the park at this moment and you will find evidence of Bombay's betrayal of your team.   
  
An Informer 

It was such a short message but deadly poison nonetheless. The team hadn't seen Omi for the entire night and had no way of confirming the message. Except… 

_This is getting us no where…_

"It's a trap." Aya said, standing up. It had been more than thirty minutes since the argument had started and there seemed to be no end to it. They had managed to drag out every doubt and angle of this situation. He was tired of this wrangling and wanted some action. 

"Oi, Aya…" Youji said. 

"Hn." 

"You're going to the park, aren't you." It wasn't a question. Youji knew Aya a little better than Ken ever did, and knew that there was only so much the redhead could stand before doing something. Like his teammates, he had a protective streak for the youngest of the team. That was one of the reasons why Omi had been put at the back of every mission. He just hid it well under his stoic façade and hate of all things Takatori. 

_It's possible that Omi is being held hostage or something… He may have been born Takatori but he's proven himself to us…_

There was still doubt there. It wasn't that long since the mission involving Takatori Hirofumi that Aya forgot how Omi had turned against them for the kid's older brother. 

_But he had been confused then… Now it's different…_

It was just hard to forget. 

"Aa." 

"You can't think Omi would…" 

"I'm not saying that Omi would betray us, Ken, but he might have been taken in a trap. " Youji said. He'd been playing devil's advocate in this conversation voicing what they could not. 

"Aa, we still need to do this anyway." Aya had said and so they went. 

*** 

The fog was as thick as the confusion Aya had felt. It obscured any enemy action as well as the doubt obscured his thoughts. 

"Omi?" Ken asked as their younger member had appeared out of the fog. The kid didn't seem harmed or tied or the least bit restrained. 

_Could it be a trap? Could he be a willing pawn? No…I can't believe it…I won't believe…_

Then Schwartz had attacked in a surprising speed occupying us as Omi cut Ouka loose. It turned out later that they had been keeping the girl hostage but, right then, we had no way of knowing. Doubt hampered us like the tendrils of a sinuous vine. Not that we needed to be hindered much, fighting Schwartz was usually enough. Then Schuldig and Farfarello were in retreat. A shot rang out, taking out Ouka. 

*** 

Reflecting on it much later, Aya knew that Farfarello could've as easily have taken down Omi but didn't. 

_We definitely figure in their plans…but as what?_

It was hard to figure out Schwartz when Aya didn't know their motives. All the other 'Dark Beasts' Weiß had hunted were uncomplicated in that respect. 

_Plus, they're psychic…for all I know, they operate on a different level of consideration…or several levels of consideration…_

It rattled him a bit that he couldn't find anything about their most serious rival. 

_Though Oracle seemed human enough…in some ways…_

The Schwartz leader baffled Aya. Given that he was evil, Crawford should have taken what Aya had offered. He didn't even need to give the information, just promise and never deliver. They both knew that the redhead had no real recourse but to take him at his word. 

_But he refused me…_

Aya couldn't understand what just happened. 

_It's as if he wanted something more of me than what I wanted to give…what he could have taken…_

What, he didn't know. 

Aya snorted and stood up to smoothen his shirt and left. 

_Bah, there's no use pondering this tonight…_

*** 

_He looks peaceful, almost asleep… _

Hel thought as she looked through the clear glass tank to gaze upon a dark haired man in his naked glory. 

_Masafumi-sama…_

She had to take off her glasses to wipe the sudden accumulation of moisture in them. Her hand tightened on the clipboard of statistics she was checking. 

_We will avenge you…and then with Estet's help, get you back…_

"So Neu...are you ready to perform your duty?" She said without turning her back. 

"I am." With a flash of the red visor, the other woman in the room was gone. 

**~TBC~**

**Author's Notes: **

[1] This is one of the inside jokes in this otherwise serious story. Sorry to those who have very little knowledge of Saiyuki or, of Weiß, for the matter, the chapter might be a little cryptic for some of you. I'm fair =^^=, a little something for everyone to recognize. Though it's going to be cleared up. Or so I hope... Maybe, I should set up a reincarnation table as characters appear and fill in their roles? But that would be plain lazy. I should just make an effort to make the characters recognizable ne? ^^; 

* Ummm, has anyone guessed who Aya was in Saiyuki? ^^;;; 

NEXT: dungeons of the mind…   



	3. Dungeons of the mind

**Author's Notes: **For Ayan-kitsune lovers, please read the Ending Notes of the chapter for lots of Ayan-kitsune omake goodness. 

**Debt of Gratitude: **Many thanks to Rei Eien for the help with the WK episode I needed and for the inspirational conversation. *wolfy huggles* Your help was invaluable in this chapter. Thanks again for re-watching the ep and writing the blow by blow account over chat. 

**Echoes in the Soul**   
WEIß KREUZ - GENSOUMADEN SAIYUKI CROSSOVER

**Part 2 - dungeons of the mind**

"What are you doing here?" Aya hissed. 

"Waiting for you. I was the one who sent you the email." Crawford said calmly. He slunk out of the shadows. Aya fought not to stare at the precog. Crawford was wearing jeans as if he'd worn denim all his life. 

_And if I though him wearing leather was strange..._

Aya fought the inclination to stare some more. Crawford never struck him to be the type to be wearing anything but three piece suits. 

_What game are you playing?_

"What are you doing here?" The thought of Aya snapped coldly. He had gotten an email for a hot lead and decided to check it out. The trash littered alley was just inside the industrial district. It took Aya several attempts to get loose from that pesky Kritiker agent to get to where he was now. It would be impossible now to the same later and to find out that he'd wasted the effort and the opportunity… 

_Shit, he just wants to taunt me for my failure…and I'll not be able to lose Botan again anytime soon… He'll be on his guard now… _

Aya had only managed to elude the man because Botan didn't expect him to abandon the Porsche outside of the supermarket while the latter shopped for their food. On top of that, he still smarted from his failure to get any information. He had gotten the informant in the hospital only to have the man die before telling him anything. The man had been killed by a pro. Of that, there had been no doubt. 

_It could've been them… They're involved, after all…or one of their lackeys…_

"So you show your true colors, Schwartz!" Aya pounced onto Crawford. 

"You're really thick-headed, aren't you?" Crawford said, dodging the attack with usual ease. He held a gun on Aya's head. 

_Shit…checkmate…and I didn't even notice that coming… _

"What's to talk about? You're involved with the kidnapping of my sister and now you want to play your sick mind games with me…" Aya hadn't forgotten the last time he'd met Crawford in the bar. No matter how he'd tried to make sense of what happened then, he couldn't find a way to make the facts match so he'd put the rest of it as Schwartz methods of keeping their enemies off balance. 

So, here was Crawford finally getting what _he'd_ wanted all along. 

"Don't be so smug, Schwartz. You got me, so what?" Aya growled. 

"You've got such a hard head. I didn't come here to fight you. I'm here to give you some sound advice. Go home, kittens shouldn't be away from their mother." 

_So condescending..._

"You're the one to talk." Ran glared back at Crawford. 

Crawford flinched. It was a tiny thing barely perceptible; Aya would've missed it if he weren't so close to the precog. 

_Oho, so this is not official business either...interesting... So Oracle has his own agenda for this meeting..._

Aya wouldn't have guessed it. He had chosen the words in random. 

_At least I learned something interesting in this meeting..._

"Your sister is with Schreient, Weiß. Considering how much of a hard time you had the last time to subdue them, I think you'll need your teammates help, don't you?" 

"How do I--" 

"Know I'm telling you the truth? You don't, but here's something that might help." Crawford handed him a diskette. "There are some interesting data as to what they're told to do to your sister while they have her in their care. Now be a good kitty and go back to mommy." 

"Don't patronize me!" Aya snarled as he tucked the diskette away in a safe case in his coat. 

"What Weiß?" Crawford drawled back. He hadn't withdrawn the gun yet. 

"Why are you doing this, _Oracle_?" The deliberate emphasis on the code name made it a challenge. 

"Just because." Crawford said. He put the gun down and shoved himself at Aya. His free hand tipped Aya's face so that they were looking each other eye to eye. 

_So is he going to take the exchange after all…in this dark alley…or is this another game… He certainly didn't intend to fire at me…_

Aya had gotten a good look of the gun while Crawford had put it down and knew that the man hadn't planned on any serious mayhem. 

"Hn…you can't fire a gun with its safety on." Aya said. 

"You're really sharp. But this is not a trap, you know." Crawford said, his hand ghosted over the curve of Aya's cheek before letting it drop. 

_Of the lethal sort at least…_

The precog really boggled Aya. 

_He acts cold one moment, and almost sweet the next… He doesn't seem to be the kind to be swayed by desire, either…_

"I wonder if even _you_ know why you're doing this." 

_I certainly don't have a clue…_

"Oh, I know why I'm doing this, Aya-kun. I am quite certain of it." The precog's tone was a soft purr of sound thrumming through out Aya's being. The world shivered a moment. 

_He's done this before… Several times before…_

_Huh? When?_

"Heh, but you're always the clever one, Hak--Aya." Reality shivered again at the almost uttered word. 

_What were you about to call me?_

"I used your name 'Aya', or are you going by your real name now? Ran-kun?" Crawford smirked. Aya hadn't even known that he had voiced the question. 

_I knew he was about to call me by another name…I just knew it…_

Everything was getting strange. 

"So till we meet again kitten…" Crawford said, ducking out of the alley. 

_He didn't even try to kiss me…_

It felt disappointing that the precog hadn't tried anything. 

_Wait a moment…disappointing…why should I be disappointed that he doesn't want anything for his assistance… _

It was a startling thought. 

_I'm not attracted to Crawford… I'm not… _

Aya knew from experience that he _was _attracted to the same sex. 

_And I'm only human…_

He always had been one to notice a handsome man or two and being a healthy human male had thought to act upon the impulse despite his situation. He'd had a teammate court him once, Yuushi, code-named Knight, from the Crashers, and if he'd have seriously considered a relationship with the other man that one time. The blond was extremely handsome and his golden eyes were rather entrancing. 

_We had a close friendship, that would have been enough…and maybe in time it would've grown to something else…but it would have been folly…even without Aya-chan to depend on me…_

Aya had only refused with regret, knowing it would have been foolish for them to have anything knowing he'd been reassigned at anytime. Weiß hadn't offered the same distraction and he'd grown colder since he'd started killing. Aloofness was a good shield against the world and to keep the weight of the guilt from killing him. People reminded him of others, others, men and women, screaming and pleading under his sword. Yes, aloofness was a good way to avoid looking at the guilt in the face but his now much colder façade made starting a relationship much harder. 

_Not that it was any easier for me to do in the first place…_

Aya had always been shy and withdrawn in the first place, self-conscious that his looks weren't typical. He had been teased for it since he was very young. Because of that, he'd prefer books and paints for company. 

_So I never had much experience with relationships… What Crawford seems to be offering though…?_

Aya wondered what the precog's game was. Not that he was playing it more than was necessary. 

_That would be quite imprudent, to say the least, and…besides, I have Sakura already… Well, sort of… _

Aya knew the danger they faced everyday on the field left very little room for an attachment to a 'civilian' who could not defend herself but Sakura was the first female he'd felt an attraction towards. It was the first sign that he might not be exclusively homosexual. 

_And I was getting so comfortable with my sexual orientation, too…_

It took a lot out of him to admit that the interest was there. He knew that he would never be free to act upon it and that made him cautious in his dealings with the girl. 

_Not to mention the hint of incest… I mean what does it say about me that the first female to attract my attentions looks like my sister's twin…scratch that…the only female yet to attract them… She does look too like Aya-chan for my comfort… _

That was something that added to Aya's discomfort. However, Sakura had no qualms on pushing the tentative attraction to its limits. So now, they had a sort of non-relationship going on. 

_So exploring things with Crawford is not precisely being unfaithful but… All these non-relationships are giving me a headache…_

Somehow, Aya felt that the precog had done something more intimate in this encounter than a kiss but, damned, if he knew what it was. 

*** 

Crawford looked at the report on his hand with a mixture of trepidation and anxiety. 

_So Weiß fell into the bitches trap… Hmmm…_

He scrolled down on the report fast taking note with some relief than only the youngest of the Weiß had been hurt seriously. _Wait a minute…_

_Why am I feeling this way towards the enemy?_

Concern fairly radiated off of him as he read the report again. 

_This couldn't have been good for Aya, not being able to rescue Aya-chan…failing his sister yet again…for the nth time…it must really hurt, it did the last time… _

A vision came to him then, of despair in unfamiliar eyes. Uncomfortable silence… 

_That's why I said the sutra then…that quiet despair…I wanted to dispel it…even then…_

_Huh? What on earth is a sutra?_

Crawford shook his head. 

_How would I know that? And what time was that…_

His memory couldn't come up with the exact time that event happened or what it was. 

_I 'm not going insane! I'm not… There must be some rational explanation…but for the mean time… I'll put it out of my mind…_

Oracle went back to reading the rest of the intelligence reports on his desk, trying to put away the disturbing thoughts. He almost succeeded somewhere the small whisper grew a bit quieter. 

He put the report down and got another from his unread pile. His jaw clenched involuntarily when he saw the source of the report. It came from Schreient. It was a report dealing with the status of the sacrifice: Fujimiya Aya. 

_Aya-chan…she looks exactly like Tomoe Sakura…or maybe that should be vice versa…_

The thought inevitably came to its normal conclusion, his jaw tightened even more as he looked unseeingly on the report. 

_Tomoe Sakura…it seems she and Aya have more of a relationship than I first thought… _

Schuldig had delighted in telling him just that when the telepath caught him coming in from his meeting with Aya in the alley. He unclenched his teeth when he felt the beginnings of a headache but the memory annoyed the heck out of him. 

_He had no right to put his nose in my business…_

*** 

"Why isn't it Romeo coming back from his meeting with his Juliet? Enjoy yourself, Bradley-kins?" Schuldig asked as Crawford came into the dimly lit living room. The annoying German was lounging on a couch. 

"Schuldig!" Crawford said as he took off his coat to hang it on the hooks set by the door. 

"Why Oracle I never thought you'd be the type to go for such an illicit romance! You were so preoccupied with your assignation that I managed to follow you quite easily." 

Crawford chose to ignore that and went past the redhead to the hallway that led to their rooms. He knew he hadn't been careless. He had taken every precaution and the only reason Schuldig could have followed him was that the man was probably in the neighborhood by chance. 

_Doing what…I'd rather not speculate…_

Schuldig had some bad habits when it came with the usual vices, wine women and song, with a little perversion thrown in for variety. 

Crawford wasn't going to escape that easily though, Schuldig insisted following him down the hallway. 

_What a pest..._

"You're so willing to 'play' with your kitten. You're really so naïve that you think he's not playing with you?" 

"What do you mean by that Schuldig? Not that I'm actually playing with a 'kitten'." Crawford spun around just before his door to glare at the telepath. 

"He's got that Tomoe Sakura, doesn't he?" Schuldig asked maliciously. He looked like he was thoroughly enjoying himself. 

"He and the Tomoe chick have been hanging around, oh-so-sweetly. Their dates in the park are so obvious, how could anyone miss them? They even went on the river a couple of times…" Schuldig insinuated, giving Crawford a sly sidewise glance as he projected the images to the irate precog. 

_Sakura dragging Aya over to a picnic table in the park… Aya and Sakura eating ice cream, Sakura slowly lapping at her cone… Aya steering a small motorboat on the river with a very enthusiastic Sakura pointing at sights and rocking the boat every so often…_

They were all different except that in all of them was Aya looking fondly at the annoying girl. The depth of his anger surprised him. 

_She has no right to get her claws into MY Aya…he's mine… _

The possessive startled him. He knew only too well that he had no claim to make on Aya. 

_What are you talking about? You never even told him anything…at she had tried…_

Still there was something in him that rebelled at the thought of Aya going out with the girl. 

"No, I'm not that interested in Fujimiya except for his use to us for our plans." Crawford said evenly as the images came to a halt though he knew that it didn't fool Schuldig. 

The German telepath gave Crawford a challenging stare. He glared at Schuldig. The telepath glared back. 

_Why am I wasting my time here? Even if I AM a little attracted to Fujimiya, it isn't helping any to be standing around in the hallway…_

"I have no intentions towards Fujimiya, subject closed." Crawford said, breaking off the glaring contest. He deliberately opened his door, intent on ending the discussion once and for all. 

"Fuck, Crawford, if this ruins our plans…" 

"It won't." Crawford said, shutting the door and that was that. 

*** 

Crawford acknowledged to himself that he had never experienced as much jealous anger ever as he felt at the thought of Tomoe Sakura with _his _Aya. 

_Never mind that I haven't even had the ghost of a claim on him… I want him…_

It was undeniable. Ever since their encounter at the motel, a part of him had been perpetually whispering at him to claim the Weiß redhead. The attraction he'd felt for the man had magnified to a need to reach out and grab what he wanted--no needed--before it got away from him. 

_I can't shake the feeling… I can't stop it or deny it any longer…_

He needed the man by his side. It was very disconcerting. He never felt this way before with anyone before. He'd never even thought of touching much less sex. 

_It's as if I've found the one person…no…that couldn't be it…_

It was then when the vision hit him. The lines of text he was trying to read wavered before him. When everything cleared, he put the report down and started to pace. 

_Ah, so that's it. I must change my arrangements…_

He now knew he'd been lying to Schuldig when he said that it wasn't going affect their plans for the future. Not when he now knew that he had a chance in getting Aya… 

_It's going to be more interesting than I thought… We have to make sure not to kill Weiß even after our objective for them has been completed…_

*** 

Youji sipped at the can of beer as he lounged in his bed. It was nights like this without a mission that he dreaded the most. There was nothing to hold back the ghosts of his dead victims. All too well, he remembered his wire biting deep into resistant flesh and hard bone. He heard again the silent screams of his victims, their silent accusing eyes. The crimson blood splashed macabre designs upon the walls as his wire cut deep. So much red…so much guilt… Red was a color he never did like… 

_Red, the color of blood…the color of Aya's hair…sometimes I think that his hair gets redder every mission from the blood we've shed…_

He usually found a willing body to help him through this, a pair of hands to soothe his worries away, a pair of breasts to bury his head in and the warmth of sex to take his awareness into oblivion but things had changed since she came. 

_Kyoko…Asuka, I lost you again…_

His fingers itched for a cigarette but he didn't have and didn't really _want _any. He savagely drained the can at the thought. Cigarettes, now, reminded him of her and that near-fatal night together. He acknowledged the bitter truth that he didn't want to see before. She had betrayed him then and she betrayed tonight. She had told him about that dilapidated wreck of a building as a trap for Weiss…and him… 

_Used me up and threw me away… All she cared about was Masafumi…_

The betrayal was fresh and the hurt deep within him. He drank and remembered. 

*** 

Youji smoked another cigarette, looking down on the shorthaired girl beside him. He gently played on a black lock, marveling at its silkiness. He stubbed the cigarette on the ashtray beside the bed, sighing. He knew what _she _would say to that. That one time she'd seen him smoke in bed… 

_"Youji, smoking in bed will be the death of you." She had said._

_"I thought you said it would be lung cancer." He teased back, dodging away her attempts to get the cig away from him. He raised his arm as she got on his lap to try to get it._

_"Youji!"_

_"Or maybe of cirrhosis…" Youji swung his legs to the other side of the bed as she rolled off him and sat up to take a swipe at the lit cigarette._ [1] 

_"Youji!" She pouted. She finally stood up and went off in a high dudgeon._

_"Asuka…" Youji said, after a few moments. Fun was fun but he knew well enough not to press his luck. He'd better apologize or not have any…_

_SPLOOSH!_

_"Asuka!"_

_"Oops?" Asuka said, grinning unrepentantly at him as she held a dipper full of water. _

_She backed away slowly from Youji as he grinned toothily at her._

_"Now, Youji…"_

_He tackled her to the floor and tickled her silly._

_"Enough…Youji…!" _

_"You surrender?"_

_"Hai."_

_Youji had lifted her up and brought her to the bed and they had made love after that._

The memory brought a smile to Youji's face. 

_I can't believe that I have you again...Asuka... We'll have more days like that, ne?_

The sparkling midnight eyes were now closed in sweet slumber. It had been quite a strange but happy day. It had been almost like that one day of a string of days that he'd taken for granted, years ago. 

_Not again… I will not lose you again…_

He looked away. The intensity of his emotions almost frightened him. Moonlight streamed invitingly through the windows of the cabin, it brought up a sudden yearning to see the moonlit landscape. He opened the balcony doors and let himself out with an assassin's stealth. He gazed upon the fairytale land of moonlight on snow. 

_It's almost too good to be real...like Asuka-chan._

Everything felt surreal. Youji felt like he was in a dream. It was disconcerting, yet, if it was--he didn't want to ever wake up. Suddenly, he felt a tingle of danger down his spine. He nearly spun around on gut feeling but something forestalled him. A wire looped his neck. He struggled against the strength behind the cold garrote and lost. His body arched as weakened knees buckled at the lack of air. His vision was fading out. The last thing he saw before everything faded into emptiness was the bare black branches clawing futilely against the midnight blue sky. [2] 

*** 

'Asuka' had claimed ignorance of what had happened then. 

_No not 'Asuka' or Kyoko even, give her the proper name, the only name her loyalties had shown her to be… Neu…_

Youji knew he needed to let go of the memory. He knew he had to, for his own sake and the team but he couldn't. He couldn't forget Asuka, couldn't forget the accusation in her eyes. Silently echoing… 

_You took Masafumi-sama away from me! I will never forgive you… _

Guilt strong and pure came to him. It resonated deep within him and followed him in his dreams. 

_So much blood…so much red…and accusation in a woman's eyes…_

*** 

_It's just another mission though a self-appointed one. They were going to retrieve Aya's sister from the Schreient. Aya tried to still his heartbeat as they came to the mansion. They had come in stealthily to find themselves in a sort of arena like area._

_Schreient gloating at them...Aya is not here. There will be no escape now._

_Then the trap sprung and Omi and Ken fell. _

_"Omi's hurt." Ken said. Omi almost kneeling down…poisoned…then without warning the scene reformed… A girl kneeling…something… Darkness, blood, screaming...iron bars...then a death...too little, too late...a gaping blankness of loss...terrible guilt at the blood, drowning in blood..._

Aya woke up drenched in sweat and half out of bed. He was panting from the loss of breath from the scream he had nearly uttered. 

_What was that all about?_

He hadn't had nightmares like that in years since after the loss of his family. He had almost the same dream but he was innocent then, innocent of all but surviving for his family. 

_Dreaming of coming home to a messy house...looking for someone...not finding her...him...them...then fading into so much blood...probably from what I discovered before that bomb exploded in our house... Survivor guilt..._

This guilt had some similarity to the dreams of his first few weeks as an assassin. The first time he had killed had him dreaming of blood and that terrible guilt. 

_But the nightmares then had a different feel to them..._

There was definitely an undertone of loss and sorrow to these dreams of blood soaked darkness not guilt, or at least not just guilt. It was strange. He sighed. 

_If only Aya-chan was here to figure it out...Aya-chan..._

His imouto wasn't around anymore. He felt a twinge at his chest at this and tears in his eyes before he slammed the door down on his emotions. Not even, a silence presence in a hospital bed to bring flowers and confidences to. 

_Fate seemed to want to take her away from me... First, Takatori then Schreient... _

Schreient had taken her away and they will pay dearly for it when Aya caught up with them--when Weiß caught up with them--Aya was not that much of a fool now that he thought he could deal with them alone. He had tried it before and failed and someone he cared for paid the price. 

_This time...this time I won't fail... We won't fail..._

He swore it to himself, ignoring his doubts. Vengeance is a great motivator and Schreient had plenty of that. 

_We haven't defeated them before but we will...we have to...or I'll never see Aya-chan again..._

But for now, he had to deal with this… 

_If only Aya-chan--maybe I should take this to Sakura-chan? _

At the thought, the room doubled somehow and faded into another time and place. 

_Darkness, sorrow and loss... No! _

Then he was back, back into his room in the Koneko no Sumo Ie. 

_Back? I was never away... If I let these nightmares get in the way, I might get distracted at a crucial moment...and fail...and, finally, fail Aya-chan._

Aya decided to concentrate on the thing he could do something about. He really shouldn't even think of such things or of involving others with them especially Sakura. 

_No, I can involve her...that would endanger her beyond prudence...though it is tempting..._

Sakura's involvement always brought with it the prescience of danger. He didn't really need to be a precog like Crawford to know that he shouldn't even associate with her anymore. 

_Now we come to back to Crawford…maybe he could put a rest to the dreams or know what they mean…after all he is versed in the stranger side of life…_

_Bah! Now you're being illogical, he's your enemy…_

He refused to think about it anymore that night, but in a way, he couldn't help it. Always in a small corner in his mind, the darkness waited. He didn't know why. 

*** 

Aya took out the hose and prepared to water the potted plants outside on the sidewalk. It was another lovely Saturday morning. The skies were a bottomless blue of a thrust's egg and the sun's rays were lightly warming the ground. The high school girls were going about in sundresses. A few of them waved to their favorite bishounen in the shop. Some of the bolder ones had entered the shop to coo over the flowers and talk to Youji who was minding the counter. They chattered gaily and Aya would catch a phrase or two. 

"Sayuri's sister had these on her prom night…" 

"She's really lucky. Do you want to…" 

"Would you want to try asking Aya-san…" 

"Really…?" 

Aya ignored them. He had known from past experience that most of the girls just cooed to get the Koneko's handsome flower boys to notice them. 

_I reserve my attention to _paying _customers, thank you…_

However, something in the general furor caught his attention. 

"Won't you go with us to the park, Youji-san. We're going to have a picnic today." 

Aya glared at the blond piercingly. 

_If he thinks he's going to ditch the shop and me for a day of womanizing, he's got another thing coming… I still haven't forgotten his little Schrieint girlfriend that got us into so much trouble over that mission… She was the reason why we fell into that trap without really even seeing Aya-chan…_

"Sorry ladies, but I need to mind the shop. See you later." Youji said. 

_I wish that Aya-chan were here…_

Aya frowned at the thought. It was a familiar one on days like these when the weather was nice and the fan girls were particularly chatty. Their airy cheerfulness was a painful reminder of the times he and his family had spent together in the park. He could almost see them, his dour father sitting solemnly with their smiling mother and Aya-chan friskily running around the park. Aya-chan would tease him to run after her and they would wrestle a bit when he'd caught her. The horseplay would go on until their father would give them a stern look to come to the table and eat. Then they would walk together in the park, reminiscing other times and talking of things until it was late. He missed those days terribly. 

_And all I have now of those days is Aya-chan... _

He really had to get his sister back there was no other way, but for the present... 

Aya looked at Youji pointedly. 

"Sorry, girls, but I can't leave Aya alone to mind the shop. What would he do without me?" Youji asked, giving the girls a flirtatious wink. 

"Aya-san can come, too." A girl said, she didn't quite dare give the grouch of the shop a look but Aya knew he was being asked. 

Aya didn't answer. 

_If she isn't polite enough to address it to me, why should I?_

Before the silence can lengthen too uncomfortably, a brown haired girl in braids came into view. She wore a blue sundress only a shade or two lighter than the sky. She skipped along while she swung a picnic basket. The girl came to a stop in front of Aya. 

_Ah, Sakura-chan..._

Aya's face softened as he looked on the cheerful girl. Her eyes were a guileless midnight blue, exactly like Aya-chan's. They had a sort of understanding. He didn't know quite what it was yet but he had been comfortable with her since he had met her. He'd grown rather fond of the girl, he might have rescued her for her rescued her for her resemblance to Aya-chan but it had gone much farther than that... 

*** 

_The victim of the organ thieves..._[3] 

The reporters had swarmed over the girl not giving her any space to maneuver, shouting questions all the while. Even if Aya hadn't seen the Tomoe Sakura's picture, he would've known that she was the one. 

_What a bunch of vultures! If Aya-chan was in the same situation, getting waylaid for her organ by criminals then nearly left to die... She had a lot of courage calling to the radio station, why do they have to treat her like some freak sideshow..._

The thought of his sister being in the same circumstances angered Aya. He turned the wheel of the Porsche and with a screech of tires scattered the reporters left and right. 

"Get in!" Aya said. 

The girl had hesitated a moment before taking his offer, allowing the reporters to shout questions at Aya. 

"Who are you...?" 

"What do you think of...?" 

_Smart girl... I would also be cautious if I had been in her situation... _

"Hurry and get in." Aya added, encouragingly. He wouldn't blame her if she ran away instead but he wanted her to know that the offer was genuine. 

_Except for the short brown hair, She looks even more like Aya-chan than I thought..._

The uneasy silence grew between them. Aya remembered a cheerful girl in black braids who tagged along her big brother. He remembered that night at the fair with the edged recollection. 

*** 

"Aya-chan, we're suppose to come home by now. Father and Mother must be worried...we did say we weren't going to take long." 

"But Ran-niichan, I'm still looking at these earrings. Aren't they pretty?" Aya-chan asked, pointing at a pair of earrings in the shape of long teardrops. 

Aya sighed. 

"I'll buy them for you if you'd hurry up." 

"Really?" 

"Really." 

"Oh, Ran-niichan..." Aya-chan said, glomping onto Aya. He regretted the hasty promise when he heard the price of the two gold teardrops but he paid it anyway. His sister's smile was worth it. 

Aya-chan WERE quite proud of the earrings, playing with them as they walked home. The house was strangely silent when they came in. A coppery smell permeated the air. 

_Hopefully, father and mother haven't gone to bed waiting for us or there will be hell to pay..._

Aya felt it immediately the tingle of danger and wrongness but brushed it aside in his anxiety. It was how he had been caught unprepared by what came next. He flipped the light switch to a scene straight from a nightmare. His mother lay on the couch in a pool of her own blood. His father on the floor with his throat cut. The whole living room was painted with blood. 

_Damned, it's going to take hell to clean it out of the upholstery..._ The incongruous thought came to Aya before reality hit. _Mother...Father...they're...they're...dead...ticking, I don't remember having such loud clock here in the living room... _

"AYA-CHAN!" 

Aya barely had the wits to push his sister away before the house erupted into flames around them. 

*** 

_Ironic in extreme that the debris should have fallen outward sparing me...but not..._

"Please let me off." Sakura requested, interrupting the dark memories that had threatened to swallow Aya. 

"It's okay. I'm not here to kidnap you." Aya said, not looking at the girl. He didn't want to be drawn in again in the outpouring of memories that tugged at him. 

_And how reassuring is it...remember she's just been kidnapped and...used..._

Aya reminded himself that it was hardly comforting to be in car with a mysterious stranger, regardless that the said stranger just rescued you from the reporters. He looked at Sakura. 

_Darn..._

Sheer coincidence had Sakura looking back at that instant. 

_She really looks like Aya-chan. I..._

Aya could almost see his sister sitting in his Porsche's front seat with him. He could almost see asking an everyday question. Ask him about his work and his friends... Aya-chan stared back at him. 

_No, it's not possible. It's Sakura Tomoe...but I..._

A honk from behind broke his thoughts. It made him realize that he had been staring. 

_What am I thinking? She isn't Aya-chan. Think fool...you are going to cause an accident if you keep doing this..._

He closed his eyes for a moment, shook his head to clear it and got his eyes back to the road where they belonged. 

" You're not with the TV stations are you?" Sakura asked. 

"No, my name is Aya and I work in a flower shop." Aya said. He concentrated on steering through the morning traffic and. 

"Aya? Flower shop?" Sakura asked, surprised. 

From the corner of his eye, Aya saw the girl leaning forward to close her eyes and take a sniff at him. It startled him more than a little that the girl could still be as trusting as that after what happened to her. 

_Does she realize that I could have taken advantage of the situation...? I could have taken that moment to take a turn somewhere and she wouldn't know where we could have ended up…_

"Yes, you do smell like flowers." Sakura smiled as she leaned back. She giggled and continued. 

"It's rather funny that a girl named Sakura would be rescued by a person who works in a flower shop." [4] 

Aya realized his mouth was still a bit open from the surprise and closed it. He turned his head a little to look at the girl, fascinated by the giggle. 

_She really is very like Aya…_

For second time that day, he saw Aya-chan sitting and giggling at him from the Porsche's seat. 

He let her off with his commitment to end the lives of the organ thieves becoming a personal thing. 

_If Aya-chan were awake now she could've ended up as one of their victims…_

*** 

He'd thought then that he liked Sakura because of that resemblance to his sister. 

_She is uncannily like Aya-chan…_

He thought it for the nth time but it didn't stop there though. 

_Though it would've been less complicated now if it did…_

It wasn't the last he'd had seen Sakura in that mission. He had caught her sitting on the grass by the river while he'd been driving on the highway. 

*** 

Aya had been restless all day in the flower shop. Omi hadn't found a trace of the truck the organ thieves had been using. Sitting through the noise of the fan girls and routine of the shop had been unbearable when he knew that somewhere out there the Dark Beasts were hunting innocents. 

_One innocent in particular…_

He had come around the bend when he saw the brown haired figure sitting on the grass. 

_Thinking of the devil…_[5] 

He got out and gone to her. He bent his knees a bit leaning on the hill as they sat there awhile in wordless companionship. He missed that. Aya-chan was the only person that used to be able to provide such comfortable company. His teammates did too now… 

_But it's not quite the same…_

His fists and jaw clenched a bit at the thought. 

"Ah, I'm so tired." Sakura whined adorably. She plopped down on the grass. [6] 

"I've never been this tired before." Sakura said. 

"Relax, you just had an operation therefore, it's only natural you'll be tired." Aya said, bending a little to put his arms over his knees and turned his head to look down on her at a more comfortable angle. 

"How did you know that?" Sakura said raising herself on her elbows to put her face closer to Aya's. 

Aya turned his head but continued to look at her at the edge of his vision. 

"Oh, right. You heard the radio show right? I did it in anger back then, but I never thought I'd be hounded by the media so much." Sakura said as she draws her knees to her chest imitating Aya's position and puts her arms around her thighs tightly. 

He just sat there lost again in the memories. 

_If Aya-chan would be half as brave as that…_

"I feel as I did something bad." 

"You did nothing bad." Aya said, stoically, trying to control the upsurge of emotion. 

_The world is such a strange place where victims are persecuted along with the criminals..._

Aya was acutely aware of Sakura's situation because he'd found himself in the same situation when his parents had died. Whispers of embezzlement and other illegal goings on in his father's company seemed to follow him around. The explosion had been the talk of the town for a month. Aya had been angry and full of fight, then. He wanted nothing more than anything to defend his parents, to tell the world that they had done nothing wrong, but that would've raised awkward questions. The Fujimiya son died in the explosion. The protection Kritiker had offered came with that price tag. He couldn't have afforded to lose that with his temper, not for Aya-chan's sake. 

_And what would it prove…nothing…_

Society wouldn't care and wouldn't change its made-up mind. 

"The bad ones are those who stole your kidney. Without conscience, they would injure others to sate their own avarice. We cannot leave such people indulging in themselves for long." Aya continued. He looked off in a distance as he tried to keep his deep anger from showing. 

_It would prove nothing then and it wouldn't prove anything now… It would probably scare her too…_

"Aya-san, who are you?" Sakura said, looking at him wonderingly. 

_Oh great, now she's suspicious…_

"Like I said, I work at a flower shop." Aya said, roughly. 

_Come on Ran get ahold of yourself…if _she_ could feel it then… _

He knew his control was slipping if the relatively unobservant, naïve girl could see through his impassive façade. 

Sakura looked quite surprised at the rebuke, her mouth falling wide open. 

_Oh shit! I can't…leave it at that…at this rate…_

She broke through Aya's panicked thoughts by giggling. Aya looked at her and saw that she was smiling. 

"Aya-san, is a good person, ne?" Sakura said, letting the subject lie unanswered for the time being. To his surprise, she stood up put a hand down on the fastening of her skirt. She let the piece of clothing fall down on her legs like a caress of a lover, revealing her legs. 

_What does she think she's doing?_

The unconsciously sensual motion suddenly made Aya draw in his breath. A strange feeling came over him. 

_It's as if I've seen this before somehow…somehow I've seen her do something like this before…_

Oddly, it made him all the more aware of Sakura. 

*** 

_That's it that feeling of familiarity…it's similar…_

Aya looked back at that first time he had been attracted to Sakura and realized that it was the same with Crawford, the selfsame feeling that they had done this sometime before. 

_What could cause that? And how could it Crawford and Sakura are very different from one another…_

Aya remembered Crawford's furtive touches to Sakura's innocent caresses and almost blushed at the thought. 

Crawford wanted him but definitely had more control than Sakura when it came to expressing it. The Schwartz leader knew what they could and couldn't have unlike the high school girl who was quite open about not minding about the danger it brought her. 

_Maybe it is that that makes me less apprehensive about being…um…attached to him…_

Aya always felt a sense of foreboding when he thought of pursuing the attraction he had felt for Sakura. 

_Not that she had any qualms in the matter…_

Aya almost smiled fondly, his mind returning to that day. 

*** 

"Shall we run a bit?" She crossed her arms and grasped at her shirt ends. 

"Uh…" 

She took the answer as an affirmative and raised her arms taking her shirt off. She wore a tight t-shirt underneath her uniform. It hugged her curves, showing a svelte and small-breasted figure, lithe but definitely not a boy. She was wearing tiny cycling shorts and they rode high upon her thighs. He felt a sudden flutter just below his belly. 

_She doesn't look bad…downright pretty…in fact…_

Coming on the wake of her near-perception and acceptance of what he was; it took sometime for his brain to register what was happening. 

_She seems to do that a lot to me…and I'm…I'm attracted to her…_

_How?_

The shocking realization shattered the eerie feeling of déjà vu. Aya had admitted to himself sometime ago that he was completely homosexual. Beautiful women never elicited much of a response from him. 

_Hell! Manx and Birman are some the loveliest, from the way Youji rave about them… and I don't even feel a bit for them… _[7] 

The Kritiker agents were certainly man-bait in their clothes. Aya often wondered if it was company policy for female agents to wear such skimpy outfits. 

_Their skirts are practically trying to reach heaven and their necklines, plunging to hell…_

"Did you know that I'm a famous sprinter? Therefore, I always dress like this so I can practice anywhere and anytime I feel like it. Is it funny?" Sakura asked brightly. She seemed nonplused by Aya's thoughtful silence. 

Aya just stared at her, still half-lost in his personal revelation. 

_Hmmm…maybe I should…to keep her safe at least…_

Aya knew he was just making excuses so that he could be close to the high school girl. 

_What are you doing? She's way too young for you, not even legal… You're worse than Youji…_

Nevertheless, he stood up while Sakura crouched down in the timeless position of track runners and they were off. 

Sakura went off with a head start but Aya was gaining on her with his longer legs and taller frame. Suddenly, Sakura began to falter. 

_She's pushing herself…so soon after…_

Aya increased the length of his stride to catch up with Sakura. 

"Are you all right?" He asked, surprising himself with the degree of concern. He stooped to see if she was truly all right. 

_I've known this girl for how long? I'm must be nuts… But it feels longer… _

She didn't seem hurt, only winded. 

_She must have just collapsed from the strain… I knew she shouldn't have pushed herself…_

"I can run anymore." Sakura cried as she tried to stand up. 

Aya could say nothing else so he offered a hand up. 

Sakura took the offered hand and stood up. She didn't let it go even when she finally got her feet under her. 

Aya was dismayed to see that her eyes sparkled with the same mindless infatuation that the fan girls sported when they stared at him. 

_She looks so like Aya-chan that it is practically incest…_

He couldn't deny it though that there was a part of him crowed at seeing that she was also attracted to him. It was…_disturbing…_[8] 

"You have the ability to laugh, cry, and get angry on your own." Aya said coldly to cover his disquiet. 

That didn't help. Sakura gaped in shock at what he said. 

_Damned! Maybe I should apologize…I shouldn't be taking my anger at her…_

He didn't have the chance to though since Sakura flung herself at him and wrapped her arms around him. Then she started to sob softly on him. Aya was too shocked then to do anything but stand there. 

_I don't dare comfort her… This cannot become a habit…_

He still had Aya-chan to think about. He couldn't become attached in any way with victims. He really couldn't afford to. Not that he had any luck being detached, he thought distractedly as he tried to put out of his mind the slight body that was so close to him at the moment. He was still visiting the little girl from that Human Chess mission, the one whose brother had died trying to provide medical care for her blindness. He had also been the one to ask Kritiker to place her in a good orphanage. She also reminded him of Aya-chan, he and the brother had that situation in common at least. However, Sakura was another matter all together… 

_Your perverted attraction to her rather complicates things…_

*** 

Try as he might, Aya couldn't seem to shake the attraction and it had existing attraction had just solidified by their next meetings. After that, she had gone to the Koneko that afternoon, chased in by several reporters. Then it was that mission, he'd wished that he hadn't allowed the kidnapping but they had to. Weiß needed a way to track the bastards before another victim could be selected. Aya had gone against orders and tried a rescue mission before the rest of Weiß had gotten there. He couldn't have left Sakura there longer than he could've abandoned Aya-chan. Not when there was a chance that she could've gotten more hurt than she had already. The plan went off without a hitch except for one or two uncomfortable moments during that rescue when the girl's unclad body pressed on his own. It caused him no end of worry afterwards. For someone to touch him so and let him risk himself more than anything else when he needed to live for Aya-chan… 

_She may look like Aya-chan but she isn't. I must concern to keeping myself alive so that I can keep my sister alive until she awakens… and I know she will…_

It made him doubt the one foundation of his assassin's life and that made him profoundly uncomfortable. 

Things had gotten even more complicated, then. Kritiker didn't take into account that the Dark Beast they were hunting for would turn on them. Powerful as Takatori had grown, they would have a hard time evading the man's killers. He wondered what to do with Aya-chan. He had a tidy sum squirreled away for her care separate from Kritiker but he couldn't possibly leave her without someone to care for her. Then he found himself approaching the one person he had trusted outside of his team to keep her safe. He found out how deep his trust in the girl and his affection for her ran. He never even thought to contact her to ask her about her sister in those months of running. Only when he was sure that everything was clear that he did so. 

_I never felt the urge to protect someone as strong as that…_

*** 

"Aya-san, wouldn't you go picnicking with me after your shift?" Sakura asked breaking through Aya's reminisce of the past. 

Aya took time to close the hose before replying. It would do no good to splash the girl even accidentally. However, under the stoic façade, he fought his reluctance and sense of wrong-ness. 

"Aa." He finally said. 

Some meters across the street, a car revved up its engine, unnoticed. A passerby noticed an angry jerky flash of eyeglasses visible through the window before the car took off with a roar similar to an outraged wild cat. 

**~TBC~**

**Author's Notes:**

Again, guesses on who incarnated as who will be appreciated. I need to know if I'm writing right. *mischevous twitch of wolfy ears* Should I write Sakura-chan's view point next? *ducks the barrage of rotten tomatoes* 

[1] Cirrhosis - is a disease especially of the liver, characterized by hardening of the tissues (from the New American Webster Handy College Dictionary). One of the causes of the condition is excessive alcohol consumption. 

Ayan-kitsune: *pipes up while thumping his tails* Silrayn keeps a dictionary by the computer handy.   
  


[2] What a mouthful! I love making these poetic images. I'm trying, again, to write them in. I just have a tendency to overdo poetic images, I've still haven't found the proper amount to sprinkle on my story. One of the workshop panelists in my Creative Writing class said that I should quit writing fiction and stick to poetry for my fiction submission. Since then, I've been trying to modulate my imagery. If I edit my own work, I'm quite capable of stuffing _every_ sentence with description and metaphor until they look like pigs for the market. The "every sentence" is not an exaggeration. I have one original story that has a character running for her life who's acting like she was giving a guided tour. 

- I hope the Youji-Asuka interaction is okay. I've never even been in a romantic relationship before so I wouldn't know how that is.   
  


[3] Canon, many thanks again for Rei Eien! Most of the Fraulien episode conversations and events are true to canon. *silrayn ducks a hail of rotten tomatoes from CxA fans* Very sorry but it's necessary to write her in but here's an omake I thought of while chatting with Rei. 

Brad-kitsune: *burning pictures, letters and small knickknacks * 

A few moments later…   
Ayan-kitsune: Have you seen the stuff Sakura-chan gave me? They seem to be missing.   
Brad-kitsune: Nope. BURN. BABY. BURN. BWAHAHAHAHA!   
Ayan-kitsune: *looks puzzled*   
Silrayn: *whispers to the audience* Guess what Brad-chan's burning?   
  


[4] Sakura - cherry blossom (utterly and nauseous sweet)   
  


[5] Yeah, Devil… 

Brad-kitsune: *stands in front of Ayan-kitsune facing Sakura, he wears a large crucifix around his neck and snarls* Begone you evil spirit! Fan-girls are classified up there with the greater demons.   
Sakura & Ayan-kitsune: *big sweatdrop* 

[6] Ayan-kitsune: Ugh! The saccharine is enough to make me barf!   
  


[7] Hel: Did you call me?   
Ayan-kitsune: No! Shoo!   
  


[8] You, talking to me? I found it even more disturbing writing this part. Bah! My mind is a strange thing, coming out with plots that disturb its own peace. 

Finally, the Sakura intensive chapter is finished. It made my hair stand up on end, it did. Incest makes me tetchy. 

Ayan-kitsune: Ahh, thank the gods. Here, hold her for me! I can't bear her company one moment more. *Throws the limp Sakura to Silrayn and runs off to snuggle with his Brad-kitsune*   
Silrayn: Hey, don't look at me! I don't like her with you either. * Pops into wolfy puppy form to drop Sakura on the floor. Her fur is standing on end making her look twice her size, rather like a puffed-up cat. *   
Brad-kitsune: Nice hairdo. Let me help you keep it a bit longer. *shocks Silrayn so that her fur stand even higher and a singed fur smell hung in the air*   
Silrayn: Now, Brad-chan. It was necessary for the plot.   
Brad-kitsune: *sniffs* The next time me and Ayan appear in one of your stories, I'll insist on an exclusive relationship. I'm putting it on the contract.   
Silrayn: Now, now. What's the fun in that?   
Brad-kitsune: *sends a more powerful shock at Silrayn*   
Silrayn: @_@ *wolfy puppy faints* 

**_~@~_**

**Thanks! **Thanks for the reviews I've been getting. I really appreciate them. Here's the reaction and Q&A portion: 

- Aya is Hakkai and Crawford is Sanzo, no doubt about it. 

Shuo Ri: Sorry but I think the table wouldn't be forthcoming just yet. I want to try it the other way first. 

Briar Rose: Thanks, for the long well thought out review…see A/N for my other reactions. *wolfy glompies* 

Crawford-Aya fans out there: I will certainly try to make more of that stuff. I write mostly CxA and this story is just another excuse to get my two favorite bishies together. (Though some canon stuff got sneaked into this story… ^^;;;) 

Ayan-kitsune: don't you get tired of torturing us?   
Silrayn: No. *heart* By the way, be kind to Sanzo-san.   
Ayan-kitsune: He should be kind to me! I'm such a small harmless kit!   
Silrayn: Harmless?   
Ayan-kitsune: *pouts and gives everybody big wobbly-sparkly eyes* Yes, harmless.   
Silrayn: As harmless as a tarantula... @_@   
Ayan-kitsune: I HEAAAARD that! *sets Silrayn's furry ears on fire*   
Silrayn: Aeeeeeeeeeiiigh!   
Ayan-kitsune: See, harmless. *gives everybody a challengingly innocent look*   
Someday, I'm going to collate all these Ayan-kitsune omake together and you folks will see how violent Ayan-kitsune is. 

Babaca: Wai! I'm glad someone picked up on the joke. Seeing Huang devoted to Nii is such a funny image to me. *Wolfy glompies you* 

**~ Here endeth the longest chapter and possibly the longest Author's Notes I've ever made in my fanficing life. I hope all the omakes have washed the Sakura-taste out of the mouth of Sakura-haters out there. ~**


	4. here there be dragons

**Part 3 - here there be dragons**

Aya's feelings were churning as he leaned on a tree beside Sakura. He was eating off a bowl with chopsticks. The reason he was standing instead of sitting with his date stood glaring some distance away. He'd spotted Crawford even before they'd enter the park. The man had brought his American Jaguar to the park's parking lot. Aya had recognized it almost as once. 

_That black car's as glaring as my white Porsche… I wonder if he knows that…_

The Weiß redhead didn't know what to feel about this latest intrusion of Schwartz into his life. 

_Intrusion of Crawford…you mean…_

After the tumult of their earlier meetings, he felt as if he was dancing around an unknown security system. Crawford's brown eyes were like lasers ready to catch his every misstep and dating Sakura was undoubtedly a wrong move on his part. 

_This is ridiculous… We kissed only for a couple or so times and he thinks he owns me? Or do I think I belong to him?_

_Huh?_

Aya found himself retreating at the thought. A sudden deep resentment welled up from somewhere within him, startling him. 

_Where did that come from?_

He nearly had it; nearly caught the meaning behind the feeling but it was gone easily. It had been at the tip of his tongue but so fleeting and fragile, easily dismissed as pride. His indignation heightened. 

_Crawford doesn't have a claim on me! Despite what he had done so far…despite how he has done to make my sister's rescue possible for this week… I'm sure he's got a hidden agenda under there…somewhere…_

_It's not as if I gave him reason to claim me…_

Some guilt resurfaced. He did kiss Crawford and offered himself to the man when he knew that the precog wanted him. 

_But that was in desperation… If he thinks that I should play nice now that he's given me the information and he has no hold on me…_

The anger blotted everything out. 

"Sakura, do you want another piece of fish?" Aya asked, smiling at the young girl before him as he bent over to offer a piece from his bowl. 

"Thanks, Aya-san. Have a leek?" Sakura asked as she accepted the tidbit. 

"Hai." 

*** 

"Crawford..." Schuldig broke off as the American grabbed the door in his hand and slammed it close. 

"You sure are in a mood...what pissed on your reports?" Schuldig asked innocently as Crawford stomped off without answering him. His smug tone did much to ruin the effect. 

_Heh, I bet it was that Sakura-chick...I've never seen him this pissed..._

It was a good guess as any. Nothing fazed the man as much as the field leader of the White Hunters. Though the man seemed so oblivious to his own obsession... 

_But then, who isn't? There are none so blind as those who would not see what is right under their nose and here's the blindest of them all…_

Schuldig was amused. Although it was a risk to them, the German couldn't help but be amused by Crawford's preoccupation with the Weiß Kreuz leader. 

_Can't he see how he doesn't notice that his eyes follow the guy around like he was the only man on earth!_

"What's it to you? Jealous?" Crawford said, glasses flashing. 

"Hardly." Schuldig said, ironically. 

_Who would be jealous about a frigid bastard like you?_

It might've been insulting had it happened years ago. Then, Schuldig had tried to control his leader by way of seduction. It was one of the options available to an ambitious subordinate. He never did have the temperament to rise through conventional methods. More than anything, Rosenkreuz showed how to rise in the world. They were taught cruelty and expediency through example of their teachers who would willingly find anyway to rise in the favor of the masters at the expense of their fellows and students. Schuldig thought Crawford would be easy prey. 

Crawford never showed much promise in the sex games. He lived more like a monk than anyone had in that hell. He rarely traded sexual favor for favor, preferring intimidation and violence in getting his way. Schuldig thought he'd be an easy mark for seduction. It was not case. It seemed that the precog was almost touch-o-phobic. He rejected every advance the telepath had made and then some. 

Schuldig grinned. No he wasn't all that thrilled to see Crawford taking it up with the Fujimiya but it had more to do with practicalities than any emotional reason. 

_I'd be sure to give him a crate of Viagra if he and Crawford ever got together… He's got my sympathies..._[1] 

Schuldig thought, remembering a particular incident. He had planned it just so that the other team members were busy with other tasks. It was in his earlier days in Schwartz. At that time, it was also a team of four, though the fourth member had been a French pyrokinetic. 

_Smug bastard... He never made me forget that I miscalculated on my seduction attempt..._

*** 

"Au revoir, I'm off to look for my Isabeau. " Etienne Nevarre said, with a wink. It was a joke based on a movie. 

"Don't get turned into a wolf along the way... Oh, I forgot, you're already a wolf." Schuldig adding the usual punch line, giving the man an appreciative glance. The man wore tight leather with panache. The flamboyant pyrokinetic was the epitome of a French lover boy and had gone off many nights to charm and sleep with the ladies. If Schuldig didn't secretly hate him that much, they'd be good friends on the basis of having that in common. [2] 

Etienne laughed and shook his head of black hair. 

_: Good luck with the boss. :_

The Frenchman said as he got his coat. 

It barely registered on Schuldig whose mind was whirling with his plans for the night. 

_This is the night that I'm really going to get Crawford to bed…_

Schuldig had used many a subtle ploy to seduce the elusive leader of Schwartz but none had succeeded so far. 

_But then I'd never really had the opportunity…_

He never had an uninterrupted moment with the precog long enough for anything more than a hint or two but that was going to change tonight. He had made sure that Farfarello was drugged for the night. All he needed now was for the self-satisfied ass to get out of the door. 

_: And good luck with your Isabeau. :_

He called out in false cheer as the Frenchman let himself put. 

_Asshole... You're the first to go, when I get Crawford under my thumb..._

Schuldig thought to the closed door. He'd make sure that Crawford threw the bastard out of Schwartz at the first opportunity. 

_Au revoir..._

Schuldig parroted in his thoughts. 

_I'll have you kicked out faster than you can blink..._

He despised Etienne heartily for the pyrokinetic's easy rise through to power structure of Estet. The man made it look effortless when Schuldig had fought tooth and claw to get where he was now. 

_In six months, he gets assigned to Schwartz when it took me five bloody years of sleeping around to get here..._

Schwartz was considered a plum assignment. Crawford was a well favored in the higher ups and he rarely lost team members to random skirmishes. 

_Heck, most of those who died in his command look like they were trying to shoot Crawfish in the back..._

In the three months that Schuldig had known Crawford, he had never seen the precog wrong. 

_Another reason to stick to him as close as possible...he'll go far..._

Schuldig started his preparations. 

*** 

"What the hell is the meaning of this, Schuldig?" Crawford asked as he had come into the transformed living room. 

The lights have been dimmed. The couches arranged to make for cozy spaces. Schuldig was draped artistically over a couch. He wore an artistically slashed tank top and silk underpants. 

_I'd go naked but Crawford might freak out…besides that is so obvious…_

"Nothing, just felt like doing over our space a bit. It was so dull." Schuldig drawled. 

"As long as it doesn't affect the efficiency of the team, you can do whatever you like." Crawford said. He walked towards his room that was conventionally lit. Schuldig didn't have the courage to alter that yet. 

_Is that all, he's going to say?_

Schuldig was chagrinned to see that Crawford wouldn't even look at him long. 

_Shy, aren't we? I guess it's time to shift gears and fluster you a bit…_

"Oh, come on! Aren't you going to ask why for?" Schuldig said, stalking gracefully over to Crawford, intercepting the man before the latter could go into the other room. 

Schuldig put a hand on the precog's chest in affected coyness, his body less than an inch away. 

"It is self-evident. You have a rather formidable reputation in that department." Crawford said, unruffled. Brown eyes stared at Schuldig calmly as the man pushed him away fast. 

"What do you mean by that?" Schuldig said. He sounded amused, though his amusement was rather frayed around the edges. The truth was that he was the one getting flustered by Crawford's lack of reaction. 

_Why isn't he reacting? I know he's homosexual or at least bisexual…_

There were a few rumors floating around that the man had slept with at least with one male normal. 

"I mean that you're well known for being a bed bunny who jumps in for carrots." Crawford said. He stayed cool under Schuldig's annoyed scrutiny. 

_That bastard Nevarre must have told him…that's the only explanation…_

"Well now, you've caught me in my game but it's no reason not to have fun." Schuldig threw himself over Crawford like a wet blanket in invitation. He pushed his lips onto the precog's, initiating a forceful kiss. He stroked the hard muscles on Crawford's back and butt. 

It was like kissing a doll. Crawford's tongue remained stubbornly still and the man's body felt like lead in his arms. 

"I think that is quite enough." Crawford pushed Schuldig away after a moment. He carefully brushed his suit into place and went into his room like nothing happened. 

_He didn't even react..._

Schuldig was at a loss for words. He had an unpleasant feeling that he was gaping like a fish but couldn't help it. 

_No one…no one's ever refused me…_

He'd even manage to seduce some 'perfectly straight' guys before. 

"Don't worry about Nevarre, he'll be dead soon enough." Crawford added before closing his door firmly at Schuldig's face. 

_Well-la-dee-da…_

*** 

_Yes, a crate of Viagra and then some…_

Oh yes, Schuldig knew how hard it was to crack that cold shell of Crawford's. 

_Not that I'd want to… Konzen…was ever stubbornly untouchable…_

With the odd thought, came a sudden flash of a blond with long hair in a girlish outfit with a pout to match. The man flashed in his mind's eye for a moment and then transformed himself into a shorthaired guy with the same pout in white robes and a white scroll on his shoulders. 

_The scroll…there's something about it…something important…it's the key, no one of the keys to--to--to my freedom…_

The world erupted for a moment in a bright flash of blue-white light. A gate came into view. Then reality returned. 

_What was that all about?_

Somewhere in Crawford's room, his inner pocket shone with iridescent light. It sparked a moment and died unnoticed. 

*** 

"This show is getting boring, Jiroshin." Kanzeon said, yawning as she watched the proceedings in the lotus pool. Schwartz was decimating the Tokyo underworld. Weiß was still waiting for word of Aya-chan's whereabouts. 

"Hai, but life is like that…one cannot depend on exciting moments all the time. It is made mostly of mundane moments." Jiroshin replied as he stood behind the Goddess of Mercy. 

"Why I do believe you are growing philosophical!" Kanzeon exclaimed. She sounded pleasantly surprised. 

"It is from hanging around you, Kanzeon-sama." Jiroshin fawned. 

"I knew it was too good to last." Kanzeon murmured under her breath that Jiroshin ignored. 

"Let's go, Jiroshin." Kanzeon stood up so fast that the gray haired swordsman backed up. 

"But where are we going, Kanzeon-sama?" 

"To Chou'An to find one thing to spice the mix up. It's time that the last player of this little drama be put into the game." 

_Besides, Goujun deserves a bit more consideration than that…he's been left out so many times…_

"Kanzeon-sama! You can't mean…" Jiroshin said but Kanzeon had already disappeared from view. 

*** 

"Kyu?" Hakuryu said as he looked up from preening his white bat-like wings. For an instant, he thought he caught a familiar scent on the wind. It was not all that made him cautious. The chanting that he heard perennially had dissolved into a surprised babble. 

"You've taken good care of him, I see." A familiar contralto drifted in with a white clothed figure. 

"Yes, Kanzeon Bosatsu-sama. The Chou'An Temple take the honor of caring for the White Dragon quite seriously." A high-ranking monk said as he followed the goddess into the room. 

"Yes we feed him only the freshest vegetables and best cooked meats." Another monk said, looking at Hakuryu fondly. He was the one that often patted the dragon and gave the most treats. Not that Hakuryu cared, he didn't even know the man's name. 

It was a long time since Hakuryu even took note of the string of caretakers he had. As long as they were well disposed towards him he didn't care for anything else. 

_They're just going to die on me anyway…_

Hakuryu had once thought that he'd had found the ideal owner. 

The man had been kind and protective, a youkai, too, and so wouldn't have died on Hakuryu. They had gone on many dangerous adventures together but it was fine. They and their companions seem to survive it all but his owner had found their human companion to love. He had pined away when the human died. 

Hakuryu had tried to care for those that came after but no one lasted long. After the third around time in the cycle of caring and then losing, he had stopped to care. 

"Ah, Goujun, would you like to see your old superior again? Tenpo has reincarnated again." 

"Kyu?" Hakuryu asked, as he looked up to stare at the familiar female. The woman was strange. 

_Who is Goujun…and Tenpo? And what do they have to do with me?_

He never understood what she said, like that other time… 

*** 

"Kyu?" Hakuryu asked the cooling body beside him. He had smelled death the moment he had peeked from his basket but had hoped otherwise. His master was stiffening into a pose no one living could match. 

"Well, well, Goujun. Left out again?" 

"Kyu?" Hakuryu started as a woman suddenly appeared in front of him. She wore white flowing robes of clingy material. Her black hair flowed like a graceful waterfall from a high knot on her head. 

"They are forever leaving you to go on their own, and you always the hopeless tag-along." 

_What?_

"Kyu?" The little dragon was now hopelessly confused, if he could only scratch his head like his humans did he would have done so. He shook his head from side to side. He trusted the female because he'd seen his owner and their companions talk to her. She'd also helped them on several occasions. 

_Though maybe that's something I shouldn't thank her for..._

If the odd female hadn't helped them at that time maybe the human would've died and Hakkai, his owner, wouldn't have mated with him. 

_Then my owner wouldn't have pined himself to death now...though there was a way to save the human from death and the man would take it... Stubborn foolish male...stubborn foolish female..._

"Kyu!" He turned away from the crazy female, in deep anger. 

"Oh, my condolences, but Tenpo was always been partial to Konzen even when they were up in heaven. I always suspected that their late night sessions to be more than just talk..." As the female chattered on, Hakuryu felt drawn by the flow of facts despite his anger. 

_That sounds intriguing and--and it sounds familiar..._

It felt as if any moment he would know what the woman was talking about. 

"Kyu?" Hakuryu asked the woman to clarify further. 

"...But never mind that. I think someone would need to take care of you, now that your master's dead. Come with me?" 

Now that he understood. Though he would continue to grieve his master for a long time but he knew that he must have a caretaker. 

_I don't need to like him or let him replace Hakkai... No one can replace Hakkai-youkai... She might not be so bad after all..._

*** 

Hakuryu had long since dismissed the puzzlement for a fickle feeling. It was probably induced from listening to too many myths and legends of heaven. He had spent his fair share in the temple since his owner's mate was a monk. 

_I'd go insane with her chatter...if I keep listening to her..._

He was about to start ignoring the woman again when he heard something that interested him. 

"Yes, I really asked you that would you like to see Hakkai again? Though he's wearing a different body these days..." 

That he couldn't resist. 

"Kyu! Kyu! Kyu!" Hakuryu flapped his wings and landed on the female's shoulder. 

"I knew you wouldn't say no." The female said, and the room faded from view. 

*** 

Crawford looked at the plans for the abduction of Fujimiya Aya with satisfaction. It was a foolproof plan. Nothing can go wrong with it. 

_And when we have her... I will be able to control the destinies of Weiß and Schwartz..._

He wanted the power very badly. 

_When I have summoned the demon then all of my dreams will be mine... It will give me power to rule the world and, most of all, the power to get Ran away from that Sakura... Though I could probably managed the second sooner…_

_Somehow, it sounds wrong…_

Though, try as he might, Crawford couldn't find out what was wrong with his plans. 

*** 

Aya got into his room absently. He was still too preoccupied with his problems with Crawford and Sakura. The sudden resentment he had felt had vanished and without it he couldn't see any reason for what he just did. 

_Now that I think of it wasn't quite the way I meant it… Or should mean it…_

He hadn't had the right to play with Crawford's emotions as he had done. 

_Crawford might fight on the other side but he's human... He's given me consideration--consideration beyond the norm... Anyone else would've slept with me that first time...Schuldig, for example, would certainly not have hesitated..._

He could still feel the heat of that first encounter in the motel. The silky heat of touching skin and cloth underneath him, the friction of two bodies close to one another. He knew it couldn't have been easy for Crawford either. 

_It would've been so easy to go over the edge then..._

On the drive home, Aya admitted to himself that he also wanted Crawford in equal measure. It was hard not to, all afternoon as he gazed at the lone figure hiding behind a tree. He wished that he were with the man instead of the girl he was with. He liked and wanted Sakura but her chatter of school and girlish concerns had little to do with him. 

_She may know that I'm an assassin and seem to accept the fact but...it's not the same... She thinks she understands but she doesn't really... No one as young and innocent could really know...what it's like to take a life...to have the weight of all that blood on your conscience... She has been sheltered so much that she doesn't know any of the hardships that I have faced and continue to face in my line of work. She has the gilded understanding of someone who's never felt want in her life...the same feeling of the rich kids when they see the needy on the street... They think they know how suffering is but you can hear them complain of their allowances being cut or their early curfew hours as if these were the greatest tragedies of the world when there are people who can't even eat three times a day. No, she doesn't understand at all... _[3] 

When it came down to it she was just too young and too like Aya-chan for him to really consider being his girlfriend. Yet, there was still that wondering in his heart. 

_Nonsense, I'd never be at peace if it were so...but...she really isn't your sister, isn't she?_

_Given, of course, that your father had been faithful to your mother..._

His conscience sarcastically chimed in. 

_She is legally free to be your girlfriend..._

He didn't know why the voice in his mind was saying such things. 

_Didn't I already decide not to involve her in this? Besides, Crawford seems to be a nice enough guy. He almost seems to be courting me conventionally. First, the refusal to take sex as payment for information, then to give the information for just a kiss..._

His actions were unjustified to say the least. Sakura was too young for him and too like Aya-chan. Despite Crawford being his enemy, the man suited him much more than she would. Still he was torn in two and can't decide over the matter. 

_When it should be so simple...and so easy...but it isn't..._

Absently, he walked into his room and flipped the light switch on, so intent was he on his internal dialogue that he barely noticed that there was a white dragon curled up in his bed. The small thing's breathing rustled the corner of his blanket ever so slightly. 

_I better buy some meat chunks, this dragon's going to be hungry when he wakes up... Wait! A small white dragon on my bed... A small **dragon** is on my bed..._

_But dragons don't exist in the real world..._

"Kyu!" The little white dragon said, as he uncoiled to blink sleepy eyes at Aya. 

Aya couldn't believe this was happening to him on top of everything else. 

_Why me?_

**~TBC~**

  
  


[2] This is the obscure joke. Etienne Nevarre is the name of the hero in the movie "LadyHawk". The man cursed to be a wolf by night while his lady, Isabeau, is a hawk by day. Rutger Hauer played the role. *silrayn goes glassy eyed and swoons* I liked him as Etienne Nevarre, more so than Orlando Bloom as Legolas(In fact, I don't like Legolas all that much.). Please don't bite me! *gets pelted by rotten tomatoes* 

Ayan-kitsune: *bites silrayn's hind wolfy paw* 

Silrayn: Ayan! @_@ 

[3] Guilty as charged. I'm a spoiled middle class girl in a Third World Country. I can't pretend to know what poverty _really_ means though I live within a block of a squatters' tenement. 

**Reply to Reviews:**

Sorry people, I can't get rid of Sakura-chan. She and Ran have some unfinished business to settle from their past life. I might even have to write her viewpoint sometime. 

Ummm... Asuka/Neu is not a character in Saiyuki and definitely not Gojyo's mom. Oh dearie me! ^^;;; I didn't mean to imply that! ^^;;; 

**Third Birthday Week Update Candidates:**

Unsaid Oaths - Chapter 1 (A snake in Eden) 

Kitsune Ku - Chapter 5 (the plot sickens) 

Raven's Pendant - Chapter 12(To Catch a Raven) 


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